San Diego firm has sudden starring role in Ebola rescue

An ambulance arrives with Ebola victim Dr. Kent Brantly, right, to Emory University Hospital, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in Atlanta. Brantly, infected with the Ebola virus in Africa arrived in Atlanta for treatment Saturday, landing in a specially equipped plane at a military base, then being whisked away to one of the most sophisticated hospital isolation units in the country, officials say. (AP Photo/WSB-TV Atlanta) METRO ATLANTA TV OUT
The Associated Press

An ambulance arrives with Ebola victim Dr. Kent Brantly, right, to Emory University Hospital, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in Atlanta. Brantly, infected with the Ebola virus in Africa arrived in Atlanta for treatment Saturday, landing in a specially equipped plane at a military base, then being whisked away to one of the most sophisticated hospital isolation units in the country, officials say. (AP Photo/WSB-TV Atlanta) METRO ATLANTA TV OUT

A San Diego biotech firm with nine employees was thrust into the international spotlight (and made local headlines) Monday for its role in developing an experimental Ebola treatment that may be helping to save the lives of two American aid workers who contracted the potentially deadly virus while in West Africa trying to combat an outbreak.

Mapp Biopharmaecutical Inc. was introduced to a wider audience via a CNN story headlined, "Experimental drug likely saved Ebola patients," in this paragraph:

The drug was developed by the biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The patients were told that this treatment had never been tried before in a human being but had shown promise in small experiments with monkeys.

CNN's story about a virus that kills up to 90 percent of the people who contract it begins like an international thriller

Three vials containing an experimental drug stored at subzero temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to save two American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola, according to a source familiar with details of the treatment.

The drug appears to have worked. Dr. Kent Brantly's and Nancy Writebol's conditions significantly improved after receiving the medication, sources say. Brantly was able to walk into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after being evacuated to the United States last week, and Writebol is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Dr. Kent Brantly and his wife, Amber, are seen in an undated photo provided by Samaritan's Purse. Brantly became the first person infected with Ebola to be brought to the United States from Africa, arriving at at Emory University Hospital, in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. Fellow aid worker Nancy Writebol was expected to arrive in several days. Experts say Emory University Hospital is one of the safest places in the world to treat someone with Ebola, the virus that has killed more than 700 people in Africa. (AP Photo/Samaritan's Purse)
The Associated Press

Dr. Kent Brantly and his wife, Amber, are seen in an undated photo provided by Samaritan's Purse. Brantly became the first person infected with Ebola to be brought to the United States from Africa, arriving at at Emory University Hospital, in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. Fellow aid worker Nancy Writebol was expected to arrive in several days. Experts say Emory University Hospital is one of the safest places in the world to treat someone with Ebola, the virus that has killed more than 700 people in Africa. (AP Photo/Samaritan's Purse)

CNN explained: "Brantly and Writebol were aware of the risk of taking a new, little-understood treatment and gave informed consent, according to two sources familiar with the care of the missionary workers. In the monkeys, the experimental serum had been given within 48 hours of infection. Brantly didn't receive it until he'd been sick for nine days."

Other outlets followed with their own reports on the San Diego firm's involvement with the treatment known as ZMapp.

ABC News: Meet the Tiny Company Behind the Experimental Antibodies for Ebola

From NBC: ZMapp is a combination of two agents, made by Mapp with LeafBio in San Diego and Defyrus Inc. in Toronto. One of them, MB-003, provided 100 percent protection to monkeys when given right after exposure to Ebola virus, and even helped after symptoms developed. The other is ZMAb, a combination drug that its developer says provided 100 percent survival in primates a day after exposure and 50 percent survival after two days.

Larry Zeitlin, the president of Mapp Biopharmaceutical, described ZMapp as "a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies" and said in an email that the company was “in the midst of an intense effort to help address the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.”

Kevin Whaley, the CEO, told NBC San Diego that the company is 11 years old and has nine employees. He said it has been working on the Ebola treatment for 10 years. He declined an on-camera interview, saying that he wanted the focus to be on the Ebola victims in Africa and the two Americans who contracted the virus.